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 How to Transfer my Domain Away from HostGator
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How to Transfer my Domain Away from HostGator

This article will guide you in transferring your domain away from your HostGator account to another registrar.

This process involves several steps, as outlined below.

 

Step 1: Prepare your Domain (Pre-transfer Checklist)

Before transferring your domain to another registrar, please do the following actions for your domain.

  1. Review your domain's contact (WHOIS) information ⤵
  2. Disable your Domain Privacy  ⤵
  3. Update your name servers  ⤵
  4. Unlock your domain⤵
  5. Request for your EPP Code ⤵

Review your domain's contact (WHOIS) information

Is your domain contact info updated? Your domain contact information is a crucial part of the WHOIS database record as mandated by ICANN. When transferring your domain, the gaining registrar will rely on this information to send important transfer details to the administrative contact. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that the information is up-to-date and accurate. To avoid potential complications, it's strongly advised to use an email address that is not associated with the domain, such as Gmail or an alternate domain.

To review (or update) your domain's contact information, please visit the following article.

Disable your Domain Privacy

Some registrars may prohibit domain transfers if the Domain Privacy service is enabled. If enabled, turn it off to allow access to your administrative contact to approve the transfer.

To turn off or disable your Domain Privacy, please visit the following article.

Update your name servers

If you've already migrated your website files to a new host, it's crucial to update your name servers to minimize downtime during the domain transfer. Take action now, as you won't be able to make DNS changes while the transfer is in progress.

To update your name servers, please refer to the following article.

Unlock your domain

Your domain is automatically locked to prevent unauthorized transfers. Please unlock your domain to initiate the transfer.

To unlock your domain, please visit the following article.

Request for your EPP code

In order to transfer your domain to another registrar, you need to obtain the EPP code, also referred to as the Authorization or Auth code, from your current registrar. This code is a unique password made up of letters, numbers, and special characters. You will need to provide this code to the new registrar to authorize the transfer process.

To request your EPP code from HostGator, please check out the following article for the instructions.

 

Step 2: Initiate the Domain Transfer (Gaining Registrant)

When you've completed the pre-checklist above (Step 1), you can proceed with initiating the transfer with the gaining registrar. You will need to contact the gaining registrar for specific instructions, which may include the following:

  1. Log in to your gaining registrar's account.
  2. Start the process of domain transfer within their dashboard.
  3. Provide them with your EPP code.
  4. Proceed with their domain transfer validation steps.

 

Step 3: Approve the Domain Transfer

The domain transfer process may take a few days to complete. Please make sure to check your emails for any verification email that will be sent to you to authorize the domain transfer request.

 

Step 4: Check the Domain Transfer Status

To check the status of your domain transfer request:

  1. Log in to your HostGator Customer Portal.
  2. Click Domains from the left-hand side menu.

    Customer Portal - Domains

  3. Locate your domain from the list.
    • If you have a single domain in your account, you will be redirected right away to the Domain Overview page.
       
    • If you have multiple domains in your account, you can do the following:

      In Advanced view:

      1. Click the domain or click the domain's vertical ellipsis icon on the far right, under the Actions column.

        Advanced View - Multiple domains

      2. Select Manage.

      In Summary view:

      Locate the domain and click its Settings button.

      Summary View - Multiple domains

  4. On the domain management page, go to the Transfer or Move Domain section.
  5. A notification will be displayed, showing the status of your domain transfer. While the domain transfer is ongoing, you may be unable to initiate another domain transfer.

    Domain Transfer Status

 

 

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